Herbal Love
by Sakura Moon
Summary: Sequel to Medicinal Love. Claire has done what she has always sought out for, but for her to achieve that, she had to cut some relationships apart. An old flame returns. What will happen?
1. Chapter 1

**Herbal Love**

**Author's Note:** So sorry for the long wait for this sequel to "Medicinal Love". If you're new and you haven't read "Medicinal Love", I highly advise you to go read that one first. Like seriously. Anyway, so my excuse? Life gets in the way, but since I'm done with finals, I should be working on more with this. I don't have everything plan out, so I can't say when the next update will be. Hopefully before the end of this year. Enjoy! (By the way, this is unedited.)

Chapter 01

_Date: unknown, Year 07_

It has been about five years since Claire had arrived to Mineral Town. And…it has also been five years since Doctor had changed. Elli doesn't know the exact details really. Every time she questioned the doctor what the matter was or what was bothering him, he would always replied:

"_There's nothing wrong with me."_

Yet, Elli could see that he was lying. There was something that must have upset him, and that something must have been related with Claire's sudden departure. Every now and then, she would catch him staring deeply at a white piece of paper when he thought she wasn't paying attention to him. These acts happened less and less as each year goes by, but she had caught him on multiple occasions reading that same paper during Winter 04.

'Winter 04….' Elli repeated that date in her mind. That was the date when everyone had found out that Claire had left Mineral Town. If she could recall, there were mixed reactions about Claire's departure. Manna was devastated for poor Rick who had suddenly lost a potential wife (although Rick had clarified numerous times that he and Claire were just good friends). Most of the people in town were indifferent, mainly because they did not get the chance to personally know Claire and she was only here for such a short time. Karen was probably one of very few, if not the only one, who was pleased to see Claire gone. Elli suspected it was because Claire's departure meant less competition for Rick's heart. But that was back than; now Karen realize how important Claire was to Rick in a different way that she was important to Rick. The ones who were truly sad that Claire had left so suddenly were probably Rick, Jack, herself and…Elli frowned, her eyebrows arched deep as she thought hard about this. 'Perhaps Doctor as well?' Now that Elli had think about it, the only time that Doctor had shown any emotion was the day Rick had suddenly burst into the clinic, and then the doctor coming back. Even if he hadn't said or reacted to anything, she knew that deep inside, the doctor was as much affected as Rick, if not even more so.

"Elli, could you hand me Jeff's results?" The doctor's voice broke her train of thought.

Her hands quickly felt the table, searching for the papers. "Oh yes, here they are." She said after finding them.

Trent's eyes skimmed over the information. He clicked his tongue lightly. "Everything seems normal enough. Good." He handed the papers back to Elli. "Put these to where they belong. If anyone else calls, direct them to my office."

"Yes, sir." Elli answered, still not used to the curt tone that the doctor sprouted, even though it has been like that for nearly five years now. Her eyes landed on to a new photo on the wall. It was a photo of Trent and Dr. Hardy—the doctor from Flower Bud Village across the mountains in Mineral Town. If there were one good thing that resulted from Claire's sudden departure, it was the improvement of the doctor's abilities as a medical professional. Every day on his day-off, Trent would travel over to the neighboring village in hopes of learning more about his profession. It wasn't until he had published a few articles and practiced in a couple of nearby islands that he became recognized in the field as the islands' leading doctor.

A calm knock alerted both of them. "Package for Doctor Trent!" Harris's voice was heard through the wooden door.

Elli glanced at Trent. "I'll get that Doctor." Brushing her skirt for invisible dirt, she quickly walked to the entrance. Quiet mumbling filled through the emptiness of his office, but it was something that Trent was already used to by now.

"Here's your package Doctor. There's also an envelope for you as well." Elli handed him a medium sized brown package. On top of it was a regular white envelope.

Dark eyes looked at the sender's address. "So this is from Doctor Harris?" His eyes trailed a bit lower. "Huh, he is over at the Sunny Island then right now."

Elli nodded. "Yes, but he should be back to Flower Bud Village by the end of this season."

"Yes, yes." His hand tightens its hold on the package. "Soon it'll be my turn."

----------------

The streets were bustling with people. People of all kind of shapes, nationalities and personalities chatted with each other as they told stories of their daily lives. Except for the people who first settled on the island, no one would have imagined that this island—which is now full of happiness and life—was once a barren wasteland (barely enough to survive and start a settlement). It was thanks to the farmer, Chelsea, who brought this island back to life by supporting it with the revenues from farming and contributions to the improvement of the island's infrastructure.

A delightful bell ring chimed through the small yet pleasant building as a customer entered a homely cafe. An elderly woman greeted her regular customer from behind her front desk. "Good morning! Here for your usual order?"

"Yes, if you please." Blue eyes skimmed the room, looking for her regular spot. A plate of mashed potatoes and herb soup was placed on the table. "Thanks for the quick service."

"Not a problem dearie," Madelynn, the owner of the cafe, smiled at her. "It's always good to see hardworking people such as yourself helping the community."

"Please Madelynn," the woman began to say. "From what I've heard, it's Chelsea who should be given this praise. She's done so much more for this island. I only provide medicine." The seated woman took a sip of her water. "Besides, I've only been here since last fall. There was someone else before me."

Madelynn nodded. The small diner was normally quiet at this time. There weren't many customers since this island still has a long way to go before becoming a heavily populated island. "Still, it's nice to be receiving my medication from here rather than waiting for the ferry to arrive from the mainland."

The woman beamed. "That's good to know," she replied before quickly shoved scrambled bits and pieces of food into her mouth. "Is it normal for Sunny Island to have different doctors each season?"

Pausing, Madelynn reflected back. "Well, ever since when I first settled here, doctors from nearby islands would come by during a season to check up on the residents. I guess when that sweet girl Chelsea started farming here, this island has been blooming ever since. So I guess the doctors come here as a precaution. But I'm sure that someday, we'll have our very own local doctor." Madelynn gave a bright smile to the woman seated across from her.

The woman hummed in agreement with the elderly woman's statement. A small ring echoed the café. Gasping at the arrival of a customer, Madelynn smiled gently at her regular customer, apologizing for the shortness of their conversation before hurriedly greeting the new customer. Done with her meal, Madelynn's regular customer stood up and picked up a white lab coat that was on the table. After putting it and flipping her blonde hair out of the collar, a small photo ID tag could be seen hanging on the left pocket. It read:

Name: Claire Howe

Occupation: Pharmacist

------------------------------------------

It had only been a couple of seasons since she first arrived here, at what many others now deem the "Island of Happiness." The pharmaceutical firm that she was working for decided to transfer her over to one of the ever-growing islands. To be completely honest though, Claire did not mind the sudden transition from urban to tropical. There were other reasons as to why, but at the current moment, she did not feel the need to bring those reasons up again. As the approaching single story white building came onto view, she was suddenly reminded about the rising doctor who was slowly becoming world renowned for his knowledge of herbs and medical skills. No one knew who he was or where he came from.

A part of her suspected that it could be Trent, but she quickly brushed that thought away. After all, what were the chances of this new and rising doctor being the same one from Mineral Town? There were a lot of islands and many doctors. It could be any one of them.

Fingers slowly shuffled the papers in front of her. Eyes lost in thought as the past surfaced her mind. A small puff of breath escaped her lips. 'How long has it been since I heard that name?' She thought to herself as she regulatory filed the papers in order. The grandfather clock nearby chimed. Her eyes widen as she glanced at the hours. "Shit, I'm going to be late!"

---------------------------------------

_Date: Spring 31, Year 07_

"Do you have everything with you Doctor?"

Trent sighed for what appeared to be the fifth time that day. "Yes, Elli," his eyes bored onto Elli's. "How many times must I repeat myself? I have everything that I'll need with me for my yearly visit to Sunny Island."

Bunching her eyebrows together, Elli continued to nag. "Every summer, you always forget something." Trent opened his mouth, but Elli ranted on. "First summer, it was your stethoscope. Next summer, it was your lucky lab coat—"

"Now Elli--" Trent said, his finger pointing at her.

Elli continued, "—and the summer after that, it was your cell phone." She gave him a rather pointed look.

"Elli," Trent said. "I hardly ever use the cell phone. It's not my fault that I didn't notice that I left it back here when I went to Sunny Island."

Hearing to that, Elli was about to comment on it, but she noticed the sudden ticking of the clock behind him. "Look, you're going to be late for the boat. Now time to move." She pushed him toward the door. Trent struggled as if wanting to stay and tell her something, but Elli didn't give him the chance "I have Dr. Hardy's number right on speed dial, and Hardy himself promised to come here once a week to check to see how things are going. Now go before they leave without you."

Trent chuckled at Elli's pushiness. "Alright, already, I'm leaving."

Elli stood at the door front, leaning on its frame; waving her hand to the doctor, she stood there watching him leave until she could no longer see his figure. There were only a few times in the year where the doctor was more friendly, more opened. This just happened to be one of those few times. Elli headed inside and sat in her seat. As she was filing some unfinished paperwork, she could not help but wonder if the only reason he behaved the way he did was to prepare him for the following seasons? She pursed her lips. No one except Trent himself would know the answer to that question.

As Elli was pondering about him, Trent was leaning on the boat's railings, watching his small town disappearing by each second.

---------

A good four hours later, Claire trudged back to the medical center. The medical center was separated into two buildings. The first building was where the clinic office was located—just a hallway away from that was the second building. The second building was used mainly as a pharmacy, though there is a storeroom for the herbs and preparing medicine. It was not really the best architect for a medical center, but she figured that as the island become more developed with time, the company would probably restructure the building and make it more organized. But with a population of around sixty people, there was no urgent need to.

"Finally," Claire muttered as soon as she reached her floor. Throwing off her jacket, she checked the calendar. "It's tornado season. I'm going to need to make a lot of medicine." She rummaged through her desk for a form. "Also need to order some medical supplies as well." Claire looked at the basket---she sighed.

----------

Fingers brushed each stem and leaf of the herbs carefully. She performed this process repeatedly. Claire frowned. Deep inside, she sensed that something was going to happen. Something major. A sigh escaped her. "Get a hold of yourself Claire. You're not getting paid for doing this kind of thinking."

She glanced at the mountain of herbs that seemed to grow bigger by the minute. Time passed quickly as she diligently worked, ignoring the quiet calls of misery accompanied by waves of déjà vu. It wasn't until the sound of her stomach growling that she remembered it was time to leave and head back to her small room at the inn. Unfortunately for Claire, Sunny Island did not have apartments or condos, and her firm, being a cheapskate, had decided to rent a room for her at an inn rather than making a small house for her to reside in temporarily.

The sun had already set when she left the building. Small pebbles flew out of the way as Claire quickly made her path to the Island Hotel. Entering the hotel, she failed to notice one of the luggage on the floor.

"Oof." Her hands were immediately right in front of her as she tripped over the luggage and fell forward. Claire had the winds knocked out of her when her body collided with the carpet floor.

"Are you alright?" A low, but deep masculine voice surrounded her.

Claire closed her eyes. "I'm fine, just a little sting that's all." She felt a hand on her shoulder as she attempted to push herself right back in an upward position; her back facing the unknown stranger.

"It's my fault. I shouldn't have left my luggage lying around here so carelessly." Regret filled his voice. "Are you sure you don't need medical assistance?"

"It's nothing to worry about. It was my fault for not looking where I was going." Claire straightened her top. She turned around. "But thanks for your conc--…." Her voice had left her as she stared at her inquirer.

He stared back. Shock appeared for a brief moment before a look of indifference graced his face. "Nice meeting you here Claire," he said curtly.

Claire futilely attempted to smile, but failed. "Yeah, nice to see you too…Trent."

-------------------

**AN:** Yeah, another one, but anyway, at the moment, I have no clue where to go with this (actually I do somewhat), but there's this one little roadblock that's blocking my way. So the next update might be slow. But please tell me how you think of this.


	2. Chapter 2

**Herbal Love**

Chapter 02

_Date: Spring 31, Year 07_

Sometimes, Claire wondered what she had done in the past to deserve such karma. As she stared at the person before her, she wondered which was worse: meeting an ex-boyfriend that ended on bad terms, or meeting someone whom you shared mutual feelings with that both parties know about, and then leaving said guy hanging off on a cliff of emotional turmoil as you left the island, never really given him much warning about your early departure, and never really sought out any form of communication since then.

Thinking about it, the latter sounded really bad. Maybe she should start praying to the goddess, Claire thought. Now that she had been thinking about it, she had heard that the goddess for Sunny Island was the same one for Mineral Town. Perhaps Elli must have pleaded to the Goddess for revenge because she left _him_ heartbroken.

Upon bringing her mind back to her present predicament, all too recognizable eyes stared her down.

"So, how have you—"

"Sorry to interrupt you, but I must be going to my room now." Trent gave a little nod.

Claire, taken back by the abruptness of the conversation, acted as if nothing was weird. "O-okay. I guess I'll see you around then?"

Nothing was said as he left. A sinking feeling emerged from Claire as she watched his back toward her. "So, that's how it'll be then isn't it?" muttering to herself softly as she walked back to her room.

Laying on top of the soft covers of her bed, Claire stared at the ceiling. Despite the fact that five years had passed since she last saw him, she honestly couldn't make out what she was feeling. There were too many emotions that happened in that moment—despair, longing, guilt; to name a few. Needless to say, a good majority of them were negative. Today's events shook her out of her reverie. In the pit of her stomach, she knew…

…that karma was out to get her.

Outside her window, a whirlwind of flower petals swirled around. Claire gazed at it, awed by this simple beauty—never knowing that this small dance represents the turmoil that would soon begin.

----------

_Date: Summer 01, Year 07_

Claire sighed as she sat at the receptionist desk. There was currently nothing to do. Inventory was full, and there was only a small flow of customers in need of some sort of medicine stopping by at the clinic. Today was one of the slow days. "This place really needs some decoration," she muttered to herself, feeling a bit distasteful of the lack of décor and the plainness that is white.

"Good morning Claire!" The voice entered through the area as the bell near the door chimed.

She immediately straightened up and plastered on a smile. After all, good service meant returning customers—in this case, seeing how there were only a population of less than a hundred living in this island."Morning Chelsea. Here for your usual?"

The young brunette beamed at her. "Yup! I'm heading out to the mountains today to mine." Chelsea pulled her shoulder bag. "Oh, do you think you could give me some band-aids as well?"

One of Claire's eyebrow rose. "Sure, but…why do you need them from me? The medicine I could understand, but band-aids? Shouldn't you be asking…Dr. Trent about that one?" She nearly stammered on the last part.

Chelsea pouted a little bit. "Now what kind of islander would I be if I asked someone who just recently moved to the area. I don't want to strain Dr. Trent with fruitless searches. Better leave that to you."

Claire rolled her eyes, moving from her place to one of the cupboards. "You're lucky that today's a slow day so far. I'll go get you your band-aids, though I don't want to see you end up in the medical wing of this building." Her eyes brightened once her hand found a roll of bandages. Holding the small roll, she lightly threw it at Chelsea, who caught it with her hands.

"Thanks Claire!" A smile and a tilt of the head, Chelsea clasped her hands in front of her. "Oh, do you think instead of the regular kind, I could get the XL version?"

Claire spun around. "How long are you planning to mine again?" Her eyebrow rose again as she assessed Chelsea more carefully.

Similar blue eyes averted the pharmacist's searching gaze. "Hehe, it never hurts to be cautious. Right, Claire?"

Claire rubbed her forehead with her fingers as a sigh left her. "Fine," Claire gave in, knowing that she couldn't really stop Chelsea if it was for work—not to mention a certain mine investor might harp on her if she prevented the main source of income to stop due worry. Claire grabbed one of the nearby bottles and after checking to see it was the right one, she handed the medicine to Chelsea.

Chelsea skipped to the door, her hand on the handle. "See you next week!" she called out then left.

As soon as she left, Claire slouched back into her seat again. Today was indeed a slow day. She glanced up at the clock; it was only ten o'clock. A groan left her throat. It had only been an hour since the drug store opened. Drumming her fingers against the stainless counter, she thought back about her encounter with Trent. Five long years.

"Well, he's definitely gotten more handsome now." These words left her mouth without thinking.

Claire spun herself in the seat. She could not helped but noticed how curt he was, but at the same time, extremely calm. In fact, he was too calm. She felt a bit of chill in the air. Understanding the last thought, she quickly ran her hand back across her hair. 'Seriously, you wouldn't expect the guy to be extremely rude and sending you death glares.' Claire's teeth sank against her bottom lip. 'Maybe he wasn't that badly hurt.' What she had done to him wasn't really what most people would really forgive unless they got over it. After all, five years had passed and so perhaps there were no lingering betrayal? No, negative emotions had chilled down.

Suddenly, Claire slammed both hands down on the counter. "Why is this bugging me?!" The clocked ticked. Feeling exhausted, she laid her head gently on the cold marble counter. She knew why. She knew the reason why it bugged her. That night, when she secretly left Mineral Town, Claire could never forgive herself… for what she had done to Trent. The rational part of her reminded her that she had informed Trent right from the beginning that her stay would be a short term. With an ocean between them, long distance relationships wouldn't…couldn't have worked. 'No….' The emotional part of her slammed against the rational part. If only she hadn't confessed or giving in to her feelings at that time. Then neither one of them would be suffering as it is—Claire stopped her thought right there. Who was she to say whether or not Trent suffered?

There she went again, letting her thoughts get away from her and being too hard on herself about the possibilities. Claire chided herself. "Of course he must have suffered." There was no doubt about it if his greeting was any indication of his opinion of her. Somehow, her female intuition was telling her that, even now, her betrayal left a deep emotional scar that still lingered inside of him to this day.

She had led him on.

A frown appeared her face. There could only be one solution. Claire knew that it would not be pretty, but she has to go and talk to him. Perhaps talking to him will close the door on the chapter. Finally giving this little story a final ending. Maybe she could move on and not feel the burden anymore.

Maybe.

Claire grabbed a pen and a couple of papers. Signing off documents, one question remained in her mind.

_Does she still have feelings for him?_

----------

Another hour in and it was eleven o'clock. The front door opened and in walked Trent. Thinking that it was another customer, Claire's posture straightened, but relaxed a bit when she saw it was him. Apparently, he didn't notice that there were two separate entrances, one for each building. Then again, a hallway connects both sections—the clinic and pharmacy. Roaming her eyes over him, she noticed he still wore his usual trademark outfit.

Then again, most doctors would wear that, she noted. Claire watched him go to one of the doctor's offices that were used for patients that only required a short attention amount such as physical checkups. The numerous beds behind a screen curtain near the receptionist desk were usually empty. However, she remembered Dr. Hardy mentioning something about miners being frequent visitors to those beds along with Chelsea.

One single thought hit her. 'He didn't acknowledge me.'

Claire gave a short but quick sigh. 'Okay, go up and talk to him,' she told herself, knowing that eventually, she would have to talk with Trent about _that._ She pushed her recliner chair away from the desk. "Alright, I'm going to do this." Minutes later, she was still in her seat. "Right, I'm going in. Going in to that office right now."

Twenty seconds passed after that statement before Claire eventually pulled herself…toward the desk and laid her forehead to its surface. 'I can't do this.' Claire knew that this was the right action to do, but she could not force herself to do so. Deep down, she knew what was stopping her.

She didn't know how to broach that topic…or what to say, given her recent _conversation_ with Trent. Besides his appearance, Claire noticed that something was different about him.

The only person she kept in contact with from Mineral Town was Rick, and occasionally Jack as well. Neither of them mentioned a change in the town's doctor. Then again, Mineral Town was such a small-populated village . With the rumors traveling faster than the speed of light, there was no doubt that everyone knew what was going on between her and Trent at that time. Claire frowned.

Then again, it wasn't like she specifically asked Rick or Jack about Trent's well-being. A loud sigh escaped her. 'How does one go about to this in a conversation?' Claire was well aware that Trent didn't want anything to do with her and was avoiding her at all costs. But she knew that sooner or later, there has to be some talking so that the both of them could move on with their lives. The hardest part would be getting him to listen and talk back.

So deep in her conflict that when she noticed the time, Claire was shocked. "Holy shit! An hour passed and here I am doing nothing!" She raised her hand and slapped herself. Seeing how it was almost break time, she decided to go gather some herbs at the jungle a bit early.

With her stuff ready, Claire placed a sign in front of her section. Eyes drifted to the clinic side, looking at the door where Trent was. Passing by small picture frames of doctors helping their patients and some artsy paintings, she couldn't help but be envious at the décor the clinic had. At least it was better than the plain white walls of the pharmacy with her license certificate and plain curtains as its only decorations. One of these days, she would put some color in to the pharmacy side. Nearly knocking a small vase containing this season's flowers, Claire continued her pace.

'What am I doing?' She stood in the middle of the hallway frozen. Claire felt her heart beating wildly. Hands clutching to the strap of the messenger bag, her footsteps quickly led her to the front of his door. Before she could even comprehend what was happening, her hands already knocked twice on the door. 'No! I…I'm not ready for this!' Her mind screamed but her body paid not attention as it moved robotically on its own.

The door opened. Trent appeared, looking coolly at the woman before him. "Is there something you need?"

"Ah, no," Claire bounced the balls of her feet. "Just wanting to let you know that I'll be closing the pharmacy for a couple of hours. So if there's anything that you need, I'll be in the jungle near the entrance."

Trent waved his hand and started to move away from the door, not even bothering to look at her after that initial glance. Something queasy and hard bounced around in her stomach when she saw that. Keeping a calm mask, Claire closed the door, shutting it tightly.

The walls started closed in on her as she walked quickly…away from his office. Her heart felt heavy. As she rounded around the corner, Claire quickly pressed her back against it and slumped—her knees feeling weak.

"I guess five years isn't long enough, eh?" Small chuckles emitted from her as she placed her head to her knees.

_Karma can be really cruel some times…._

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**AN:** Hate to leave it there, but I felt this is a perfect place to end it. Sorry it took so long to get this out as I was having a hard time writing this chapter. Reviews are love! Oh, there were a couple of mistakes in the first chapter that escaped my notice, so I'll be posting an edited version of that soon.


	3. Chapter 3

**Herbal Love **

Chapter 03

_Date: Summer 03, Year 05_

"I like to have the pizza dish and a side of fries."

"Anything else?"

The sound of a page being flipped was enveloped by the surrounding noise from other customers. Claire glanced at the menu. "Maybe some frozen yogurt would be nice." She handed the menu back to Nick. "That's all. Thanks."

Nick smiled warmly at his favorite customer. "I'll have it done right in the jiffery."

After he left, she sighed. These past few days have been daunting. The atmosphere between her and the doctor was intense-not the good kind, but the bad kind. It felt like a cat preying on a mouse type of thing. Claire swirled her drink around as she took another sip. Life on the island wasn't really that dangerous, no matter how much the inlanders believed it to be. So far, there hasn't been any critical injuries on the villagers, but with the winter season coming up—that might change a little bit. A plate of food entered her vision and she was distracted by the delightful aroma smell. To a couple of tables from her left, a loud conversation was taking place.

"Have you seen the new doctor?"

"No. Is he good-looking like everyone said?"

"Definitely, and a fine personality to boot as well."

"I wonder if he has somebody back in Mineral Town?"

Claire decided to ignore any further conversations from that particular area. Suddenly, she lost her appetite. A bell rung and Claire was out the door, with a take-out box containing her leftovers. Waving, smiling and greeting to the villagers, she quickly made haste to the clinic. Inside, there was a long line of miners waiting in the lobby. Claire noted that almost each and every single one of them had a large cut somewhere on their body or some bruising. She quickly rushed over to her side of the clinic, grabbing some creams and whatnot before heading over to Trent's office. She stopped right in front of his door, hand still inches away from knocking. The door opened by itself, and Trent appeared on the other side—he looked shocked seeing her standing there, in front of his office.

"Creams?" Claire asked, holding a box of medicinal creams for him to see. Trent took the box, thanking her _politely_.

The intense stare from him made her fidget a little. "Do you need any help?" Claire offered to do the menial stuff such as cleaning the blood and bandaging some cuts; she did took a first aid class back in school.

Trent merely looked down on her, reminding her that a doctor would need a 'certified' nurse or someone who was supervised under an experienced nurse. "No, I can handle everything here. I've already given a prescription to some of the miners. I believe they are waiting for you to give it to them."

That, there, was a double bitch slap and Claire felt the nonverbal wound. She couldn't stay in his presence for one more second. "Sorry for intruding you then." Out of the hallway, shrouded in darkness, and back into her own section of the building where warmth was flowing. As predicted, there were people waiting for their medication. How she missed them in the first place, Claire did not know. "Time to start working," she muttered to herself as she hurried over to her desk and gathered the prescriptions.

* * *

It was all over now. Claire wiped the sweat off her brow. She felt like her eyes became crossed from staring at the drugs too hard. Sometimes, she wondered if it was worth all the studying and putting together the drugs like this. Sure, the pay is good and all, but on the course of her path she had to sacrifice a few things. Once she was in the confines of her room, she let her guard down.

_Ring, Ring, Ring_

Startled, Claire glanced over at the source of the noise. The phone was moving with life. Curious, she picked up the handle. "Hello?"

A male's voice was on the other. It was distinctively familiar. "Claire?"

"This is her speaking. May I ask who is this?"

Chuckling was heard on the other side. "It's me, Rick. From Mineral Town."

Claire brightened up when she realized it was her dear friend. "Rick! I'm so glad to hear from you." Then she stopped, remembering something. "But, how did you get this number? I don't remember giving it to anyone besides the doctors."

"Dr. Hardy gave it to me, once I found out that you are working over at Sunshine Islands as its pharmacist." Rick answered, his eye was watching over Jack as he browsed around for some chicken feeds. "How have you been?" Rick wanted to trend this conversation carefully, as he was well aware of the current doctor that's residing in Sunshine Islands and the calamity that could possibly happened.

With that single line, everything—all the thoughts, the fears that Claire kept tightly inside of her—burst opened as she spilled them all to Rick, who made listening comments (occasionally "uh huh"'s "I see"'s here and there). From the cold treatment she received from Trent to her self-promises of mending the bridges between Trent and her, but never could. She didn't know why….It just never did. At the end of the tirade, Claire felt better then she had ever since she reunited with said person. "What am I doing wrong Rick?"

Rick was silent; trying to take in all the information that he could in his mind. It was hard to do so when Claire was being very descriptive and detailed with her run-ins with Dr. Trent. Not to mention the whole emotions that was plaguing her body. Finally finding the words he wanted to say, Rick started off slowly. "Do you think…perhaps that you're running away from the situation?"

Claire twirled a lock of her hair; not knowing how to respond.

"Claire?" Rick's concerned voice echoed the small room.

"I'm here." She responded, snapping her attention back to Rick. "What made you think that I'm running away from something?"

There was a bit of hesitation coming from Rick's part. "Well, it seems that whenever there was an opportunity, you wouldn't take it. Instead, you just ran away."

She almost raised an eyebrow to the accusation, but stopped. Claire repeated his words in her mind. …Those words hit her. A gulp of air was swallowed in her throat. Just as Rick's comment changed her whole viewpoint so many years ago, it turns out that time hasn't change them at all. The words of wisdom opened her eyes now. Her body slumped against the wall. A couple of tears dropped to the carpet and she placed her head to her arms. Claire knew that Trent haven't forgive her, knew that she was the last person he wanted to see. She wanted to mend things between them—back to the easy going relationship they once had. But no matter how much she kept telling herself—in the end, she didn't do anything.

"Claire!"

A hefty sigh left her and Claire spoke, her voice trembled somewhat. "You're right. There were plenty of times where I could have done something, but I didn't. …I chose not to." Claire rubbed her eyes; it had gotten moist. I don't have the right to complain when it's all my fault."

On the other side of the phone line, Rick frowned as he listened to her speak. "Is it because you're scared?"

Silence answered his question. Then her voice was heard through the phone again. "Perhaps."

Rick's next question threw her off. "Do you still love him?"

Claire didn't know what to say. She was pretty flabbergasted as to how she could respond to that. "I…uh…I don't know." Claire answered honestly, though she could feel her heart pounding loudly against her ribs. "I still…well, I guess you can say that I'm still attracted to him. But it's been about four to five years now. We're not the people we were back then."

There was a loud sigh of aggravation from Rick's part. "Stop being so analytical and trying to reason with this," Rick reprimanded. "There's no logic in love. I mean, look at my sister! To this day I still don't know why she loves that sea-traveling jerk Kai."

Claire raised an eyebrow at Rick's rant. Apparently, he hasn't gotten over his dislike toward Kai. "Some things haven't changed have they?" She could hear Rick scoffing on the over end.

"Nothing has changed over here…except for a certain doctor but I'm sure you've already experience that already." Rick gazed outside his window and onto the street, where Elli was walking down with a basket of fruits heading over to the poultry place. "Listen Claire, I don't have that much longer to talk since I have to keep an eye on this place but please try to find some sort of closure with him. The two of you need it."

"Rick…." She found herself shocked at how weak she sounded when he suggested that. Already Claire could pictured the frown that appeared on his face when she called him out like that. What he said next only confirmed her imagination.

"Now Claire," Rick's stern voice reprimanded her once again. "Trust me on this. The two of you will be better off once you discuss whatever issues there are between you. Now I gotta go. Mom is feeling a bit weak today and someone is dropping by with something. Bye Claire."

"Give Lillian my regards and bye Rick." Claire said; sadden to have her close friend leaving her once again.

"I will." The phone clicked.

Placing the phone on the nearby stand, Claire walked over to her bed and fall on it. The shadows in her wall crept closer to her; showing the passage of time. It was only the light from the lamps placed around the room that hid away how her heart really felt. She wasn't surprised to see that it was already quite dark. After all, Rick was one of the very few people in the world where you just felt like you could talk to that person forever and there is always something to talk about. Remembering what Rick had told her, Claire moved around on the bed, moaning. How the heck was she supposed to bring the past up with Trent? Especially since it seems like he doesn't want anything to do with her.

Claire knew Rick was right in that both of them needed some type of closure. How things ended between them…well, there were some repercussions from that. Trent's new icy attitude and her sudden jitteriness around him. But at the same time, it was not like she could go up to him and say, "Hey! You and I need to talk about how I broke your heart through a letter and pretty much hid from you til now." She could only imagine what kind of facial expressions he would give to that comment.

No matter what, Claire knew that one way or another, it would be a very awkward conversation to bring up with unless…there was some sort of extreme external situation at hand. Claire frowned in her head. She had no clue what kind of external "hands" would be.

All of the sudden, Claire heard her stomach growling. Gently placing her hand on top of her stomach, she could feel the echo sensation vibrating through her skin from the stomach. She wondered for a bit what to eat but then remembered that she had her lunch in a take-out box. Searching around for the white carton box, Claire found it. To her disgust, it was cold and the fries were soggy. "I wonder if the kitchen has a microwave or something." She said to herself as she headed toward the kitchen. Claire had enough of eating cold pizzas as a student. She didn't need to experience that part of her life again.

* * *

"Ah that was some good warm pizza and fries." Walking out of the dining room, Claire was pleased.

As she was heading back to her room, Claire noticed there was a new water fountain right in the middle of the lobby. Curious, seeing how this was the first time she saw, Claire walked over to it and peered over the fountain. One minute she was looking at the cleanest waters that she had ever seen, and the next thing she knows, she was wet all over. 'Damn the water is freezing.' She thought to herself as she straightens herself into a seating position. Claire felt a couple of hands grabbing her and pulling her out of the fountain.

"Fair maiden, are you alright?" A soft yet strong male voice spoke to her. There was a hint of an aristocratic tone in his speech. Claire figured that he must have been a European or something along the lines by his accent. Brushing her hair aside—they were in front of her eyes when she had fallen in—she was speechless when she saw the male.

Short blonde hair, fair, blue eyes and all. She could sum it up in one word. Princely. Remembering that he was waiting on her answer, Claire slowly nodded. She didn't think these guys existed now, but here was one right in front of her.

The unknown princely male smiled. Claire wondered how a smile could be so radiant and regal. "I'm glad to hear that." He said then faced away from Claire for a moment, but brought back his gaze on her. "My deepest apologizes for pushing you into the fountain. My back was turned and so I didn't realized you were there when I backed up. Forgive me for making you experience such a terrible moment." His deep blue eyes stared imploringly at her.

Charmed by his behavior, Claire smiled at him. "It's alright. You apologized and it's not like you purposely shoved me in. It was all an accident."

"You are so kind and thoughtful fair maiden. Might I know your name?" The guy asked. "Oh, I almost forgot. My name is William Terry Louis Andrew Junior Regison III. But for you fair lady, you may call me Will."

Claire's head almost reeled back at Will's introduction. That was quite a name and definitely proved her speculation that he must came from an old Western traditional family. "I'm Claire Howe. I run the local pharmacy here. Are you new to the island?" She asked, knowing for sure that she never met this guy before on this island. The island has a pretty small population. She thrust her hand out to shake.

Apparently, that action to him meant kissing the fingers. Before she could realized what he was doing, he had already grab hold of her hand and kissed the back of her fingers. "Oh!" Was all that Claire could muster up saying before feeling a bit flustered by Will's action. Now she could see why all the girls would feel embarrassed whenever a guy does that.

Will resumed back to his previous position once more after kissing her fingers. "Lovely name for someone such as yourself Claire. And yes, I am new around here. But that is a story for another time." Will noticed at how soaked Claire was judging by how her clothes stick on to her like glue. "Ah, forgive me once more for not noticing how cold you must be." He took off his white jacket and wrapped it around Claire, who was protesting against that. "We must take you to the doctor at once. I think there is a doctor at this inn."

"Will stop. It's fine. No need to bother the doctor. I'll just go to my room and changed clothes again." Claire said weakly. There was no way she was going to see Trent as this. A daft of cold air passed by and Claire sneezed. Seeing Will's stern expression when he saw her sneezed made her relent to Will's suggestion. Deep inside, she cursed the water for being too cold as she waited on one of the benches and watched as Will walked over to the front lobby and demanded a doctor. Huffing to herself, Claire wondered why Will was going overboard with this. By now, she would have been able to take a quick shower and into a clean dried pair of clothes.

Will was walking toward her, briskly. Standing up, Claire explained to him how it wasn't necessary and how much of a hassle that would be for the doctor. But Will was adamant about that saying how it was not very much of a gentleman to leave a damsel all wet and unattended without being look over by a doctor for any signs of the flu or cold. Put out by Will, Claire brushed past him and marched to her room. She knew that Will could not stopped her physically, for that would go against his code of gentleman.

Shouts were yelled out, but Claire ignored them. It didn't take long for her to get to her room. "Man, so troublesome." She said to herself as she grabbed a pair of clothing and went to the bathroom to take a quick shower. Ten minutes in and a loud pounding interrupted to what was supposed to be a quiet, _alone_ time. Claire didn't blinked an eye as she ignored the pounding and continued on attempting to enjoy her shower.

**Knock. Knock. KNOCK!**

Deeply annoyed by the constant repetition of the knocks, Claire shut off the shower, wrapped a bathrobe around herself, and roughly opened the door to see Will and Trent standing by—the later looking irritated and the former agitated. "What?" She said harshly, snapping mostly at Will since the whole ruckus was started by him in the first place.

Will's eyes widened more than a centimeter when he saw her state of undress. Realizing what he was doing, he closed them quickly and stepped away from Claire. "I'm sorry milady for disturbing you." Blood rushed to his cheeks when he recalled Claire's choice of wardrobe. "Dr. Trent will see to you." Will gave a good nod then quickly ran back to the lobby, embarrassed to have seen a lady in her intimate level of clothing.

Claire closed her eyes, rubbing her temple. She still finds it amazing to see different sorts of people that exist to this very day. Will was the perfect example of that. Back to the problem on hand, she glanced at Trent. "I'm sorry for all of this," Claire gestured her hands out. "but you really don't have to do this or be here in the first place." She started to swing the door to a shut, but a hand suddenly darted forward and pushed against the closing door.

"If I don't check up on you, he will get on my case." Trent said rather coolly. Claire had no choice but to allow him in as what he said was correct. She may not know Will very long, but she had an impression that he would pestered Trent about her condition—if not from him, then from her as well. But, when she listened to what Trent had said just now, she felt sad or disappointed.

Not looking at Trent straight in the eyes, Claire sat down on a chair and muttered softly. "Let's get it over with." Her bare arm was sticking out in front of her. She heard rustlings of cloth and the sound of a zipper being moved.

It was all very much like a routine, Claire noted. Trent checked for her vital signs and everything. She shivered when his fingers slightly brushed against her skin. Trent took notice of that, but refrained from commenting on it thinking that it was probably from the small breeze from a window crack.

Trent moved away from Claire once he finished inspecting her. "Everything's fine. There's nothing wrong with you. I do suggest, however, that you shut the window properly and tightly so you won't run risk of obtaining the cold or flu."

Claire nodded. She felt the hair strands becoming less wet now. "Thank you doctor." An air of awkward silence settled itself between them. A cough came from Trent; his body rather stiff. Shoes shuffled as the door creaked opened and the doctor was heading out. Once the door was firmly shut, Claire released her breath that she did not realize she was holding. Sometimes, she wondered if she made the right decision in pursuing her career over love. Recalling the soft, delicate touches where his fingers met her skin, Claire knew that his ability to be compassionate hasn't dwindled at all over the years. In fact, it may have moved on to an even further level. For all that hatred he must have toward her, Trent treated her rather delicate. 'But that wouldn't stop him from emotionally hurting you now,' the negative part of her mind informed her. She fell back on the bed. "I swear, this is worst than taking the PCATs. All these emotional stress is going to give me gray hairs someday!"

_Knock. Knock._

Groaning, Claire stomped over to the door and yanked it wide open. There stood Will, holding a steaming cup of hot cocoa. "Ah!" He gave the cup to Claire. "Dr. Trent insisted that I should give this to you, saying how it would make you feel better and not catch a chill."

"I see…." Sniffing the enticing scent of fresh, steaming chocolate, a sense of familiarity whirled around. Claire was about to take a small sip of the drink to see if it was what she thought it was when Will spoke again.

"Once again, I am deeply sorry for making you fall into the fountain and letting yourself get wet and cold," Will ranted, his hands were gesturing wildly. Apparently, his inner turmoil was so expressively shown that Claire was beginning to be a bit worry about his health.

Claire placed the cup on a nearby table and gently laid her hand on his shoulder. "Will, it was an accident. There was no intent, so all is clear." Slowly pushing him further down the hallway, she smiled at him. "It's getting late and I'm sure you have other things to do. Goodbye." The door quickly slammed shut. Leaning against the door from her side, Claire made eyes upward toward the skies. "Men." She doesn't think she would ever understand them sometimes.

Outside the window, it was already dark. Claire couldn't believed that so much time had passed by. Heading over, she unlatched the window and allowed the summer breezes to come in. Glancing back at the door, she wondered if life would be better if she had just gotten a kitten rather than getting into a relationship.

Her skin prickled at the ghostly touches Trent had bestowed upon her and she shivered involuntarily. Claire knew what has to be done, but thinking and saying about it was a lot easier than having to do it.

* * *

**AN: **So…ok, I know it's been about a year since I last updated and I'm sorry it's taken me this long. To be honest, I don't feel motivated into writing for awhile now. Along the way, I've just grown weary. It is only through reviews and story alerts that I forced myself to write this particular chapter. Which was rather difficult because for the longest time, I didn't know where to go from the last chapter. I'm sure you guys are annoyed at Claire's indecisiveness and just bull-shitting talk. But if you guys think about it, how would one go about talking to the guy, whom she broke his heart through a letter and it was mostly her fault for not going about it the right way. I hope this chapter is up to standard. For future chapters…at this point, I honestly don't know. I know that I will complete this story…however, that might take years from now because there's nothing to motivate me (to push out more chapters).

I had planned for this to be relationship-building and all, but I'm questioning myself, would I really have to? Who knows, maybe I'll find the answer to that one of these days.

Thanks to those who reviewed and added this to their story alerts. It's because of you guys that I was able to get this chapter done (and worked on it periodically). I hope this chapter is not a disappointment.

Also, this is unbeta'd.


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